The present invention relates to a method of laser-cutting or marking an article and to an apparatus for laser beam targeting.
Current lasers scanning technology involves two techniques:
1) Post-objective targeting using galvanometric motor scanning mirrors, where the laser beam first passes through an objective or xe2x80x9czxe2x80x9d lens in order to keep the beam at optimum focus at a target plane, upstream of the X and Y scanning mirrors, wherein the focused laser beam, by linear displacement, follows the shape of a structure, such as a label to be marked or cut. Linear displacement of the focused laser beam is controlled by digital signals, representing X and Y laser beam positions on the target plane and directly corresponding to signals taken from the X and Y galvanometric motors, which in turn allowed a laser beam to be directed onto the article; or
2) Pre-objective targeting using galvanometric motor scanning mirrors, where the beam is kept in focus at the target plane by passing through a scanning or flat field or f-theta lens down-stream of the galvanometric motor controlled mirrors.
In both of the above systems, the laser beam is directed on a X galvanometric motor controlled mirror, which deflects the laser beam onto an Y galvanometric motor controlled mirror, which in turn reflects the laser beam towards the target plane. The X and Y galvanometric motors each comprise a central spindle which is held within a magnetic field and onto which a deflecting mirror is mounted. By sending a signal to increase or decrease the magnetic field, the spindle can be rotated clockwise and anti-clockwise at high speeds and with great accuracy and repeatability. By controlling an X and an Y galvanometric motor in combination with laser source switching, an image can be scanned onto the target area.
Disadvantageously, current laser beam scanning targeting techniques commonly involve the switching of the laser source in direct conjunction to the laser beam being scanned across a target plane. Because e.g. a carbon dioxide laser source cannot produce plasma energy or lase at the lowest ten percent of maximum laser energy, when the scanning speed at the target is lower than 10% of the maximum scanning speed, the resulting laser process will have more energy striking the target than is required to effect a uniform depth of processing. This problem is illustrated with respect to FIG. 5.
FIG. 5 shows a graph illustrating the problem of acceleration, maximum speed and deceleration of a galvanometric motor determining the speed of movement of the laser across the target to laser beam intensity. As shown in FIG. 5, during the acceleration and the deceleration phase of the galvanometric motor the speed of movement of the laser beam across the target plane is inherently slower than at maximum speed. Accordingly, the laser beam output power has to be increased and decreased in proportion to the motor speed to guarantee a uniform laser beam intensity on the target surface. This will not be possible with the common carbon dioxide laser which at minimum speed generates a laser beam intensity which will be either zero or too high.
Further, scanning targeting techniques using current carbon dioxide lasers commonly suffer from larger than required laser beam spot diameters at the target plane. This is due to the relationship between the diameter of the unfocused laser beam, the size of the X and Y mirrors, the mass of the X and Y mirrors in relation to the galvanometric motors, which control positioning and positional tolerance and speed, the focusing ability of the f-theta lens and the wavelength of the carbon dioxide generated laser beam energy.
Current alternative carbon dioxide laser beam scanners use, for example, the SK1020 scan head manufactured by SCANLAB AG of Puchheim, Germany, which when used in conjunction with a laser source, commonly controls that laser source by simply switching on the laser beam energy to a pre-determined power output level when a mark is required to be scanned onto the target. When the scan reaches the end or completion of that mark the laser beam energy is simply switched off again. Although, electronic delays and pulse suppression can be effected to assist the uniformity of the required mark, there are no accounts for scanning acceleration or deceleration at the target plane.
Disadvantageously, the above mentioned scan heads have no controls to ramp the laser beam power at the target in direct relationship to the speed of the combined X and Y galvanometric scanning, as explained above with respect to FIG. 5.
Further, the current scan heads have relatively large laser beam spot sizes on the target plane. The input laser beam diameter should be kept relatively small in order to minimize the size and mass of the X and Y scanning mirrors thereby restricting the inertia that said X and Y scanning mirrors will load onto the galvanometric motors.
Also, the current scan heads have no control over the target plane laser beam profile, therefore there is no accounting for or control over the natural Gaussian profile of the laser beam. Disadvantageously, this natural Gaussian profile is detrimental to the accurate processing of fine graphics art and other materials because it will produce a laser beam at the target plane of higher intensity in the center of said laser beam and lower intensity at the edges.
Another disadvantage of the prior art scan heads, controlling laser beam energy by switching is that the switching on and off of a laser source to match galvanometric scanning is detrimental to the longevity of that laser source and compounds attempts to maintain that laser source""s power output stability.
Finally, the above method of laser source control by switching to match galvanometric scanning only allows for the duplication of scanning heads processing from a single laser source, and does not allow for any configuration of scanning heads to form an array whereby each scanning head can take a part of the total target area.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,034 discloses a method of writing a liquid crystal display with a laser beam, wherein the intensity of the laser beam applied to the liquid crystal is controlled by a laser beam varying unit. The intensity of the laser beam irradiated on the liquid crystal is changed with the deflection speed of the optical axis, wherein the change of laser beam intensity is obtained by a acousto-optical modulation. Modulating the laser energy into ultrasonic pulses of varying frequency is used for thermal writing of a liquid crystal display at constant laser beam energy.
WO 89/11 948 relates to a method of laser beam steering to optimize the efficiency of laser welding and other laser material processing. According to this reference, the polarization of laser beam energy is steered in the same direction as the processing path across a target material; further, this document also relates to the benefits of striking the material at or near the Brewster angle for said material being processed.
EP 0 393 676 discloses a solid imaging system, wherein a laser beam is modulated in accordance with the laser beam sleep speed to maintain a substantially constant layer depth at all speeds. The modulator preferably uses an acousto-optical switch or an electro-optical switch. The electro-optical switch is based on a crystal that changes optical polarity when voltages are applied.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a method of laser cutting or marking an article and a laser beam targeting apparatus whereby the transmission of a beam of laser energy is finely controlled in direct relationship to the speed at which two galvanometric motor driven mirrors deflect said laser beam and scan that laser beam onto a target plane. According to a further aspect, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for decreasing the laser beam spot diameter at the target plane.
To solve the above object the present invention provides a method of laser cutting or marking an article, wherein the article is processed by at least one laser scan head, said laser scan head comprising motor driven deflection means for scanning a linearly polarised laser beam across the article and a polarisation control device, wherein the polarisation control device rotates at least one Brewster plate around an axis which is parallel to the laser beam to gradually transmit or deflect the laser beam to control the level of laser beam energy of the laser beam scanning across the article in accordance with the movement of the deflection means.
According to a further aspect, the invention provides a laser beam targeting apparatus, comprising at least one laser scan head, said laser scan head comprising motor driven deflection means for scanning a linearly polarised laser beam across a target and a polarisation control device comprising at least one Brewster plate, wherein the polarisation control device rotates said at least one Brewster window around an axis which is parallel to the laser beam to gradually transmit or deflect the laser beam to control the level of laser beam energy of the laser beam scanning across the target in accordance with the movement of the deflection means and a laser scanner comprising such a laser beam target apparatus.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the polarization or attenuation control device comprises at least one and, in particular, one or two Brewster plates which can be rotated at an angle between 0 and 90xc2x0 to control laser beam transmission between 0% and 100%. The rotation of the Brewster plates is synchronized to the rotation of the X and Y mirrors deflecting the laser beam for targeting the scanning surface. In the present invention, the laser beam may even be emitted continuously because each Brewster plate can be adjusted to 0% transmission to deflect the laser beam to a beam dump, wherein movement of the deflecting mirrors and the Brewster plates will be started simultaneously.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,220 describes the use of a Brewster window which acts as a beam splitter to measure the intensity of a laser beam and feed back an beam intensity output signal to an electronic control. In accordance with the feedback signal, a beam attenuation module adjusts the amount of attenuation of the laser beam so that the output beam energy is maintained within about 5% of the desired energy. In this reference, the Brewster window is stationary to always deflect an equal portion of the laser beam into the measuring device. If, in this reference, the Brewster window were rotated a different percentage of the laser beam would be measured which would compromise the control method of this reference. While U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,220 teaches the use of a Brewster window in a laser system, said Brewster window is not used for attenuating the laser beam.
The method of controlling the laser beam transmission according to the present invention is by one or two ZnSe Brewster plates rotated by motorised control around 90xc2x0 of the single direction polarised input laser beam axis. By setting said Brewster plates at the relevant Brewster angle said plates will transmit 100% of the laser beam energy when aligned to the polarisation of the input laser beam and gradually lower the transmission to 0% of said laser beam when rotated through 90xc2x0 around the laser beam axis by the formula: Transmission=COS4"PHgr".
Advantageously, because this method can adjust laser transmission independently and by electronic control methods automatically dependent upon combined X and Y galvanometric motor speeds it can react accurately in terms of laser power requirements to the material to be processed.
According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus and a method for targeting a carbon dioxide laser beam whereby a beam of laser energy is optically expanded immediately prior the X and Y galvanometric motor driven mirrors thereby growing in diameter to the input side of an f-theta focussing lens assembly thereby focussing the laser beam to the target plane at a smaller diameter than possible using conventional methods.
Advantageously, increasing the input laser beam diameter to the f-theta lens has the effect of decreasing the target plane laser beam spot size, thereby decreasing the level of laser beam energy required to process and, additionally decreasing the laser beam processing width and the amount of waste material to be extracted and filtered by the actions of the process.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of combining a beam shaping or axicon lens with the optical laser beam expander so that the natural Gaussian profile of the carbon dioxide input laser beam can be profiled into a laser beam of more even power distribution at the target plane.
Advantageously, the aforementioned features allow for the use of more than one scanning head from a single laser source of continuous power output whereby each scanning head can be functioning independently of other scanning heads.
Advantageously, the polarisation control device can act over the full range of transmission within a time scale of a few hundred microseconds and is digitally or electronically controlled relative to the combined speeds of the galvanometric motors contained within the scan head.
Advantageously, because each scan head can adjust laser transmission independently and automatically dependent upon its own combined galvanometric motor speeds it can react accurately in terms of laser power requirements to the material to be cut and can be duplicated into an array of scanning heads either duplicating a single process or each scanning head taking part of a single process.
Further advantages provided by this laser targeting method include that, for example, two combined scan heads that each can target an area of 200 mmxc3x97200 mm mounted together in a 1xc3x972 configuration or array can target an area of 400 mmxc3x97200 mm from a single digital design area which has been split by software into the two corresponding areas each targeted by each scan head.
Advantageously, said array can process any area smaller than the total target area so that if, for example, an area of only 50 mmxc3x97200 mm is required to be cut, only one of the two scan head can be employed to execute the task whilst the remaining scan head can remain effectively off with its respective equal split of the original laser beam being blocked by its respective polarisation control devices maintaining zero laser beam transmission and effectively closed.
Advantageously, said array is mounted close enough to the target to maintain relatively small beam spot sizes and allow for greater aerodynamic control and evacuation of waste gases created by laser processing.
Advantageously, as the array requires only one laser beam to be split equally employing beam splitting optics it is far simpler to control said beam propagation with regard to plasma fluctuations employing optical laser beam monitoring and control methods.
Advantageously, said high speed attenuator or polarisation control device can control laser beam transmission to the target with a very high degree of accuracy to maintain the correct laser beam intensity at said target in direct relationship to combined X and Y galvanometric motor scanning speeds, including during the critical periods of combined X and Y galvanometric motor acceleration and deceleration.
Advantageously, said polarisation control devices can be further controlled by overriding their input control signals to varying percentage ranges which effect to further allow for various types of material processing, for example, die or through cutting, kiss or part-depth cutting, marking of the surface and non-marking or non-processing or jumping when a galvanometric scanner or both the galvanometric scanners are moving targeting points between processing lines and where the material is not to be marked in any way.
Advantageously, said method employs a xe2x80x98front endxe2x80x99 operator or machine operators"" console digital design field which represents the entire target area covered by the said array whilst internal xe2x80x98hiddenxe2x80x99 digital means or electronics hardware means or automatic digital design field not seen or controlled by the machine operator divide the entire target area into separate target areas targeted by each individual scan head and control the separate scanning heads targeting relative to their part of the entire target area. In this method each part of the entire target area targeted by each scanning head function independently and at the same time as each of the other scanning heads.
Advantageously, said method employs electronic or digital control of the original laser beam power output dependent upon material type thereby requiring no further control of the X and Y galvanometric motors or polarisation control devices for differing material types.
Advantageously, said scanning head array apparatus includes means for scanning said laser beam onto the target. Said apparatus may, for example, be Cambridge Technology Inc. galvanometric motors, models 6350, 6450, 6650, 6400, 6900 and/or 6880, X-Y mounts, models 6103505R, 6103510R, 6104512L, 6104512R, 6106520R, 6106530R and/or 6109050R, and control electronics, models 65335, 65335B, 65335H, 65340, 65340B, 65340H, 65345, 65345B, 65345H, 65365, 65365B and/or 65365H.
Advantageously, said scanning head array apparatus includes means for high speed attenuation of said laser beam entering each set of galvanometric motor controlled mirrors in each scanning head. Said attenuation means, for example, may be by implemented using VandS Scientific (London) Ltd.""s ZnSe Brewster plates affixed into a high speed polarisation control device.
Advantageously, said scanning head array apparatus includes means for directing and focusing said laser beam onto the target. Said apparatus may, for example, be VandS Scientific (London) Ltd.""s X-Y mirrors and f-theta lenses.